A thought exercise

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    • #13015
      John LincolnJohn Lincoln
      Participant

      A winter tow today!!! With the wind blowing 25 mph right down the runway out of the west we could be at 1000′ over the main hangar when we got there! Of course we’d have some difficulty seeing the Pawnee at first with all the blowing snow and all, but like I used to do in Arizona you can just follow the tow rope until you’re able to see the tow plane! (Been there, done that multiple times, only it was dust not snow.) Lets just keep towing to the west ’cause at 1000 agl we have a westerly at 35 mph. Going up to 4000 agl we’ll need to head to Coral because our westerly has become northwest and it’s now blowing 56 mph. If we’re in a 1-26 we’ll make this flight last longest at minimum sink speed around 30 mph. We’ll  need to continue northwest as we’ll be traveling backwards over the ground at that speed! Don’t let the field get too far away. Finally I’ll assume you did good and kept the field in glide. You’ll need to plan your pattern carefully. Since we’ll have an extra 35 mph on down wind and we’ll add 17 mph to our pattern speed to account for the wind we’ll be booking right along. That runway will be out of reach if we don’t pay close attention. If we turn base at the east hangar drift should put us at about the right spot over the runway when we get there. Turning base to final just east of the east hangar will look much different as we’ll still be fairly high (assuming you started your pattern at 1000′.) However that 25 to 30 mph wind will make your descent much more vertical than you’re used to. You may not even get back near the tie down area! Whew, made a beautiful landing and everyone came out to hold the ship down. A 1-26 without the pilot’s weight could easily fly if a 25 mph wind had a gust of an extra 5 mph in it.

      I wish to thank all the members who not only work on the maintenance items, but who support the club in ALL that it does. Thank you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!! John Lincoln

    • #13016
      Rich WalendaRich Walenda
      Participant

      Merry Christmas!  If your flight did not work out that well I am on standby to provide medical aid since the frozen ground will be as hard as cement…the freezing point of human blood is -2℃ to -3℃. From studies done , blood freezes around 31 degrees F. It is lower that the freezing point of water (32F) because of the dissolved materials in it.  Be safe.

    • #13017
      John PhelanJohn Phelan
      Participant

      And saltwater freezes at around 28.4°F.

      John F. Phelan
      (S20 Mobile)

    • #13018
      Don GrilloDon Grillo
      Keymaster

      Thanks John L. for the lesson. Very informative. However, the Flight Chairman has cancelled all flights for the day due to a lack of interest. ☃️🌬️🥶

      — Don
    • #13019
      John LincolnJohn Lincoln
      Participant

      And be careful rigging/derigging in this weather, frozen fingers, noses, ears. Yep, Don has a good call there! This way Rich can save his medical help for another day. John L

    • #13021
      ANDRZEJ CHICEWICZANDRZEJ CHICEWICZ
      Participant

      On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 12:04:53 PM CST, SSI <webmaster@skysoaring.com> wrote:

      MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH

      To all club members,:To those whose like them and to those who don't  like them.

      by chance i witnessed  when John L take off from field in Arizona 

      Attachments:

    • #13024
      ANDRZEJ CHICEWICZANDRZEJ CHICEWICZ
      Participant

      On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 03:56:13 PM CST, SSI <webmaster@skysoaring.com> wrote:

      Attachments:

    • #13025
      Steven SnyderSteven Snyder
      Participant

      If John launched from Arizona at 0500 he should be here in about 2 more hours.

      Steve

      From: SSI <webmaster@skysoaring.com>
      Sent: Friday, December 23, 2022 4:26 PM
      To: Smsrsnyder@comcast.net
      Subject: Reply To: A thought exercise; By ANDRZEJ CHICEWICZ, [Sky Soaring]

    • #13026
      John PhelanJohn Phelan
      Participant

      A fine-looking group!

      Best Regards,

      John F. Phelan

      From: SSI <webmaster@skysoaring.com>
      Sent: Friday, December 23, 2022 15:56
      To: phelanjf@gmail.com
      Subject: Reply To: A thought exercise; By ANDRZEJ CHICEWICZ, [Sky Soaring]

    • #13027
      ANDRZEJ CHICEWICZANDRZEJ CHICEWICZ
      Participant

      depends how many reindeer he will have

      On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 04:35:14 PM CST, SSI <webmaster@skysoaring.com> wrote:

    • #13028
      ANDRZEJ CHICEWICZANDRZEJ CHICEWICZ
      Participant

      On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 04:24:41 PM CST, ELZBIETA &ANDY <mercury700@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

    • #13031
      John LincolnJohn Lincoln
      Participant

      Andy has found just exactly what it was like to launch on a dusty dry runway. Basically IMC conditions for the first 8 to 10 seconds. Seems scary the first time or two that you do it. You can actually learn how to keep the wings level while making this kind of launch. If you do this you will notice that while you can’t see the horizon you can (and I did) notice that if you looked up 20 to 30 degrees the sky is lighter. Keep the wings level and sort of horizontal to that lighter sky while also following the tow rope and you’d be ok. After the tow plane gets going the amount of dust goes down and the IMC condition disappears. The biggest down side is your sailplane is covered with dust. (So much for cleaning it before takeoff.) And now  you all know why the glider operations in Arizona that use tow planes to launch also use paved runways to launch. Merry Christmas John Lincoln

      PS. Andy, just one small under powered Reindeer! I might be a bit late Steve. Can I have a couple more hours!

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